From bostonherald.com: Boston police brass are stealthily hitting the streets in a sweeping crackdown on cops who fail to show up for lucrative paid details, talk excessively on their cell phones at job sites and commit other infractions that tarnish the badge, the Herald has learned.

Over the past two weeks, Superintendent Dan Linskey, chief of patrol officers, has been checking on cops on private details to ensure that they are on post, well dressed and not idling in air-conditioned cars, smoking in the street or having prolonged cell phone calls.

Any cop found not doing the job properly is reprimanded and asked not to turn in the $37-an-hour detail card for payment, Linskey said.

Details have long posed an image problem for police departments across the state. Massachusetts is one of the only states in the country that requires utility companies, contractors and trouble-prone nightclubs to hire uniformed officers to patrol sites and direct traffic. Rest of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]